(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention provides uses of Sophora flavescens extracts or fractions prepared from the extracts for activating alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) and acetaldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH), removing blood alcohol, and/or preventing and/or alleviating alcohol hangover.
(b) Description of the Related Art
Due to frequent and excessive drinking under the drinking culture of our country, many people are very interested in medicines or drinks that can remove hangover. Hangover includes the symptoms such as headache, diarrhea, anorexia, nausea, emesis, chill, cold sweating, etc. shown after drinking, and also includes deterioration of gnosia and exercise capacity, hematological change and hormonal change as the objective symptoms. It has been known that hangover is caused by dehydration, toxicity of alcohol and alcohol metabolites (acetaldehyde, formaldehyde, acetone, etc.), lack of nutrients (lack of blood glucose, vitamin or mineral) due to the dyspepsia, etc. Degree of hangover is very diverse depending on the individual variations due to the heredity and environmental conditions (nutritional status, exercise status, degree of dehydration, health status).
After drinking, alcohol is metabolized via three routes. It is metabolized by alcohol dehydrogenase and acetaldehyde dehydrogenase which exist in the gastrointestinal tract or the liver when the ethanol concentration is low or by microsomal ethanol oxidizing system (MEOS) which exists in the endoplasmic reticulum when the ethanol concentration is high to acetaldehyde and acetic acid, and then is finally decomposed by the action of catalase, etc. which exist in the peroxisome to carbon dioxide (CO2) and water (H2O). If an adequate amount of alcohol is taken, the above stated metabolic system properly works to prevent the various symptoms caused by alcohol. However, if a lot of alcohol is taken, the equilibrium of metabolic system may be disrupted to disturb the homeostasis, resulting in headache or pressure in the head, reduced attention, brash, dyspepsia, etc. in the short term and dyshepatia in the long term.
For the alleviation of hangover symptoms, currently there are several commercial drink products such as: Condition by CJ Corporation made of extracts from cili, hedysarum, lotus seed, rice germ, raisin tree, etc.; Morning Care by Dong—A Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. with main ingredients from fermented rice embryo and soybean extracts and milk thistle extract powder; Dawn 808 by Glami Co., Ltd. with extracts from alder tree, rowan tree.
Sophora flavescens Aiton, commonly called light yellow sophora, is a perennial plant that belongs to the Leguminosae of Dicotyledon family. It grows in the sunny green field. It is green and 80-100 cm tall, and has a black hue when it is young. Stems are straight and its oddly pinnate leaves are arranged crisscrossed. There are 15-40 leaflets. Each leaflet is 2-4 cm long, 7-15 mm wide, and in the shape of a long oval or long egg. The petiole is long and its border is smooth. Between June and August, flower stems sprout from the end of branches growing 20 cm long and produce in a raceme light yellow flowers in the shape of butterfly. The length of flower is 15-18 mm. The calyx is in the shape of a keg and has hairy exterior and five thin split tips. The fruit is a legume in the shape of beads. It has a short haulm and is 7-8 cm long and ripens between September and October. Its dried root is called bitter ginseng in oriental medicine. In the Korean Pharmacopoeia, it is described as herbal medicine with a bitter taste and for its ginseng effects it is prescribed for dyspepsia, neuralgia, hepatitis, jaundice, hemorrhoids, etc. Also, in folk medicine, stems and leaves are decocted and used as an insecticide. Sophora subprostrata Chun et T. Chen is a plant that belongs to the same genus and looks very similar to the Sophora flavescens Aiton. It inhabits in Korea, Japan, China, Siberia, etc.
Sophora flavescens's main ingredients are flavonoids and alkaloids. Research studies have reported its neurtroprotective actions (Park, S.-J. et al. Phytomedicine (2009), 16(11), 1042-1051) and glucosidase inhibitory effect (Kim, J.-H. et al, Biological & Pharmaceutical bulletin (2006), 29(2), 302-5). Also, studies with flavonoid fraction of Sophora flavescens reported anti-inflammatory and arthritic effect (Jin et al, Journal of ethnopharmacology, 2010, 123, 589), antimicrobial effect (Zheng et al, Wuhan DaxueXuebao, Lixueban, 2008, 54, 439), and estrogen mimicking and anticancer activities (De Naeyer et al, Journal of natural products, 2004, 67, 1829).
Including the above researches, a variety of physiological activities of Sophora flavescens extracts and compounds separated therefrom have been reported. However, there is no report on the physiological activities of Sophora flavescens or extracts thereof related to enzymes for alcohol metabolism and alleviation of hangover.